Algae have been cultivated artificially for such diverse purposes as the production of food for animals and humans, the treatment of sewage and waste waters, and the accumulation of radioactive wastes. More recently, algal cultures have been used for the production of enzymes having industrial and research applications and for producing oils and other materials having nutritional value. Modern biotechnology offers an opportunity for the genetic modification of algae to yield cultures capable of producing a wide variety of useful materials.
Various methods and equipment have been employed for the artificial culturing of algae. Perhaps the simplest procedures have involved the use of shallow open ponds exposed to sunlight. Such ponds are subject to contamination by dust, other microorganisms, insects and environmental pollutants and provide minimal ability to control the degree of exposure to light, temperature, respiration and other important factors. A more sophisticated approach has involved growing algal cultures in plastic-covered trenches and ponds, optionally having electrically powered pumps and agitators. These configurations reduce the chances of contamination of the culture and permit more accurate control of temperature, respiration and other parameters. Such configurations are still quite inefficient in terms of providing adequate and uniform amounts of light to the algal cells, particularly when sunlight is the sole source of light.
Unlike other microorganisms, the nutrient requirements of algae are very inexpensive, carbon dioxide being the principal source of carbon. On the other hand, the photosynthetic process requires that the algae be exposed to a relatively constant and uniform source of light. A primary design factor for modern photobioreactors involves providing a means for uniformly exposing the cells in the algal culture to the optimum amount of visible light. Like many plants, algae are quite sensitive to the amount and kind of light. Excessive light intensity can damage and kill algal cells. Too little light results in low levels of photosynthesis and consequently reduces growth.
A number of design factors are affected by the means selected for supplying light to the cells. For example, light sources, including natural sunlight, often emit substantial amounts of heat. Algal cultures are sensitive to heat and many of them grow most efficiently at temperatures of 20.degree.-35.degree. C. Thus, means must often be provided for cooling the algal culture and dissipating heat generated by the light source.
Two design factors closely related to the requirement for a uniform and constant supply of light are the cell density and the light path length. Like conventional fermentation processes, it is usually desirable to use as high a cell density as possible. Many of the same considerations apply to algal cultures as to bacterial cultures. For example, in addition to the light requirements, one must take into account the competition for nutrients, respiratory demands, viscosity and pumpability of the culture medium, and the like. However, an extremely high cell density results in cells more than a few millimeters from the light source being effectively shielded from the light. Simply increasing light intensity will not overcome this problem, because highly intense light will damage or kill cells near the light source.
The only effective way of increasing cell densities while maintaining a uniform amount of light is to employ a relatively short light path length. Of course, the requirement that the photobioreactor have a relatively short light path length introduces a new set of design problems. For industrial applications, it is usually desirable to employ high-volume microbial cultures. Large culture volumes are amenable to continuous or large-scale batch recovery operations and generally result in economies of scale. Satisfying the requirements for large culture volumes and short light path lengths has required that the photobioreactor have large, transparent walls which are closely spaced to define a light path and a fluid chamber within which the algal culture is contained. The transparent walls are illuminated with an appropriate light source to sustain the growth and photosynthetic reactions of the cells.
Various designs of such photobioreactors have been employed. A relatively simple design which has been successfully used in laboratory and pilot plant operations is simply a glass chamber having large, flat, parallel side walls and a narrow bottom and end walls. A gas sparging tube is placed in the bottom of the chamber to allow carbon dioxide or carbon-dioxide-enriched air to be sparged through a culture medium contained in the chamber, and banks of fluorescent light tubes are arranged adjacent to the side walls of the chamber. Inocula, nutrients, buffers, and the like can be introduced into the chamber through the top which may optionally be covered with a lid. This design has been very successful and useful for small scale operations.
An alternative embodiment of a bioreactor employing a fluorescent tube involves a cylindrical culture chamber having glass walls which surround a single fluorescent tube. The culture chamber may also be surrounded by a concentric cylindrical water jacket for controlling the temperature of the culture. Such a photobioreactor is described by Radmer, R., Behrens, P., and Arnett, L., in a paper titled "An Analysis of the Productivity of a Continuous Algal Culture System", published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 29 (1987), pp. 488-492. This design has also proven very valuable for laboratory-scale algal culturing operations, but, for many of the reasons described above, has not proven particularly useful for large-scale operations.
Various photobioreactors designs are reviewed in an article by Yuam-Kum Lee, "Enclosed Bioreactors for the Mass Cultivation of Photosynthetic Microorganisms: The Future Trend", TIBTECH, Jul. 1986, pgs. 186-189.
Furthermore, several problems have resulted from photobioreactor designs which have utilized light banks and light compartments immersed in the liquid microbial culture. Firstly, it is difficult to safely and effectively make the necessary electrical connections with the light tubes. Secondly, access to the light tubes for maintenance is made more difficult.
A significant need still exists for large-scale photobioreactors which are capable of using high intensity, low-cost lamps which provide uniform distribution of light over large surface areas while utilizing a safe and less complicated means for providing electrical power.